The present invention relates generally to the field of flexible support stands and more particularly to flexible ball joint supports that incorporate a detent mechanism in the ball joint.
Flexible support stands or posts are typically used for supporting items such as lamps, tools, microphones, cameras and faucets, just to name a few. In the past, flexible supports have been limited in length due to the weight of the item being supported and the weight of the support itself causing the joints of the support to lose the position in which they were set. Such loss of joint positioning results in drooping of the support and of the item supported. Another fault in previous flexible supports is the inability of the support to be biased to a desired position, or to be easily returned to a straight in-line position where all segments in the flexible support form a straight line. The present invention provides various embodiments of multi-segmented flexible supports that overcome these deficiencies.
A ball joint is a special type of joint comprising a ball that is held by, and rotates within, a socket. Ball joints provide a wide range of flexibility and allow the joint to bend in a full circle of different directions. Flexible supports for lamps or other lightweight tools have typically been constructed of either a semi-rigid shaft that allows for bending and positioning of the supported item, or of a series of variously styled joints that result in effective flexibility of a series of rigid segments. Early inventors made use of swiveled ball joints to achieve a universal range of lamp or tool positioning. U.S. Pat. No. 1,186,428 to Newman (1916) describes a lamp bracket that uses a series of ball and socket joints to provide flexible positioning of a lamp. The lamp support of Newman does not provide for biasing the joints in any one position, and requires external routing of the power cord; however, this idea does effectively illustrate the basic approach built upon by a number of similar, subsequent ideas.
In U.S. Pat. No. 936,379 to Stevens (1909), the approach to routing the lamp""s power cord through the center axis of the flexible support is disclosed. In this idea, a xe2x80x9cballxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cthimblexe2x80x9d bracket arrangement allows for the flexibility of the support. An additional useful aspect of this idea is the use of a tension spring, which runs along the length of the support""s hollow interior and keeps the system stiff, yet still flexible. However, the overall useful length of this device is limited by the useful tension that the spring can provide, when the weights of the supported lamp and the support""s own weight are taken into account.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,279,803 to Watson (1918) describes a similar axial spring-tensioned support. This device uses ball and cone-shaped segments of gradually decreasing size with proximity to the lamp end of the support. The decreasing size, and therefore decreasing weight, of the support""s segments allow for greater useful length, however the support length is still limited in part by the balance between the tensioning spring""s joint stiffening effect and the loading imposed by the supported lamp.
More recent approaches to flexible tool or lamp supports make use of conjoined multiple ball and socket segments. U.S. Pat. No. 5,398,176 to Ahuja (1995) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,521,803 to Eckert, et al. (1996) both use ball and socket joints that rely on a friction fit to maintain joint stability. As with previous similar devices, the overall useful length of the support is limited due to reliance solely on this friction fit of the joint. Also, none of the other devices referenced have a means to bias the device to a desired position, or to quickly and easily return the support to a true axially straight alignment following use.
Detent mechanisms such as those found in car doors and kitchen cabinets are used to hold the doors open at a desired angle. Some force is required to engage and disengage the detent mechanism. Usually two parts are required in a detent device. A first protruding part is pushed into a second receiving part thereby holding, or biasing, the mechanism in that position. Typically a spring or other tensioning device is included in the detent mechanism to provide the pushing force.
A flexible multi-jointed support for holding items, such as lamps and tools, is provided. The support comprises multiple segments that are joined end to end, a joint being formed at each joining of two segments. At least one of the joints is a ball and socket joint that is capable of being biased in a desired orientation. The ball and socket joint comprises a male portion that is in the shape of a ball, wherein the ball has a detent area covering a circumference of the ball, and a female portion that is in the shape of a socket that frictionally embraces the ball. The socket has a detent area that aligns with, and engages with, the detent area of the ball when the male and female portions are placed in a desired position, thereby biasing the joint toward that position.
In an exemplary embodiment, the detent area of the ball comprises an indentation that extends around a circumference of the ball, and the detent area of the socket comprises a protrusion toward the ball that extends around an internal circumference of the socket. The protrusion of the socket is adapted to engage the indentation in the ball when the ball and socket are aligned in a desired position.
In another embodiment, the detent area of the ball comprises an outward protrusion that extends around a circumference of the ball, and the detent area of the socket comprises an indentation that extends around an internal circumference of the socket. The indentation of the socket is adapted to engage the outward protrusion of the ball when the ball and socket are aligned in a desired position.
In a third embodiment, the detent area of the ball comprises a spring band and one or more ball bearings aligned around the outside of the spring band, wherein the spring band is inside a circumference of the ball and provides an outward force on the ball bearings. The detent area of the socket comprises an indentation that extends around an internal circumference of the socket, and the indentation is adapted to engage the ball bearings, housed in the ball, when the ball and socket are aligned in a desired position.
In a fourth exemplary embodiment, the detent area of the ball comprises an indentation that extends around a circumference of the ball, and the detent area of the socket comprises a spring band that extends around an external circumference of the socket and provides an inward force on one or more ball bearings aligned along an interior of the spring band. The ball bearings of the socket are adapted to engage the indentation in the ball when the ball and socket are aligned in a desired position.
In other embodiments, the ball can have more than one detent area, wherein each detent area covers a different point or circumference area on the ball, and the socket can have more than one detent area. In such embodiments, every detent area on the socket can engage at least one detent area on the ball, and every detent area on the ball can engage at least one detent area on the socket, thereby allowing the support to be biased in more than one position